Bird Cage
by Aki Autter
Summary: Feeling sad and lonely, Kaoru continues to sing for his band with false happiness for the benefit of his twin and friends. Unaware of Hikaru's newly found love for him, Kaoru takes on a new destructive persona in order to deal with his feelings of isolation. Will Hikaru be able to confess his feelings and save his brother, or will someone else snatch him up? Someone like Kyoya.
1. The Dream

Bird Cage

Chapter 1

The dream

"Kaoru… Kaoru…" I opened my eyes and find myself floating in a beautiful yellow sky with bright blue clouds. "Kaoru… Kaoru…" I heard it again, that sweet voice. I sit up and look around me only to realize that the only thing that surrounds me is the big yellow sky and the bright blue clouds. Where am I? Since when are clouds blue? And since when can I levitate? More importantly, where did that voice come from?

"Kaoru… Sing for me…" There it is again, that beautiful voice. Hearing it makes me want to reach out and touch it. As if I could reach out and touch sounds, but if I could I'd bet it would be soft. As soft as these bright blue clouds.

"Kaoru… Be my song bird… Be my bird… Be mine." I feel a flutter in my chest. They wanted me? Me? I took a much needed deep breath and smiled out of pure happiness. Someone wanted me! Someone wanted to love me and care for me! Be yours, of course I would! That is, as long as you promise never to leave me behind. But wait, who are you? As I questioned that sweet voice I could feel the warm happiness draining from my body, leaving a cold, empty shell. Do I even know you? Are you just another one of those crazy fans that loves me for my voice and my looks? They say they love me, they chant my name, as if it were a secret prayer. But do they really love me? No, they don't. They don't even know who I am.

"Be mine. Be mine. Be mine… Kaoru…" No. I'll never be your's, I'll never allow myself to fall that far down. To allow myself to be owned by someone that pretends to love. As soon as I thought those words the sky darkened from the warm yellow to an orange, to a sinister blood red. The clouds, no longer fluffy and bright blue surrounded me, obscuring my vision with a thick gray fog. No knowing what to do, I reached my hand out into the dark fog, searching for something to hold on to. My fingers brush against cold metal and I curl my slim fingers around it. And in that moment all I can think of is how cold it is. The metal bar in which I have griped onto is cold, the air I breath into my lungs is cold, the ground beneath my bare feet is cold. I am cold. My empty body is cold. Everything becomes even colder as the fog disperses slightly, allowing me to see other black metal bars. Like the fog, these bars also surround me, but more in a circular like fashion. I look up to see that all of these black bars are holding aloft a black, circular metal roof. It dawns on me than that I am in a cage. A very dark and cold cage to be exact. I shiver.

"Kaoru. Sing for me. Be my song bird and sing." The voice is more demanding now, and has taken on a strong serious tone. I can't help but shudder slightly, because of the fear the voice has induced on me. "Kaoru!" It barks at me, "You are my bird, now do as I say and SING!" I jumped with light yelp as the voice yells at me.

Bird? I am most certainly not a bird! And I belong to no one! I realize just then that I am in no ordinary cage, I am in a bird cage. I look down at my self for the first time to see that I have sprouted beautify monochromatic orange bird wings. I have indeed become some sort of bird. As I gaze at my exotic new wings I began to forget about the troublesome situation I have currently found myself in. They where so beautiful, every feather glistened with a slight iridescent shine and there were small speckles of gold, as if my wings had captured the sunlight in them.

The voice, no longer beautiful, interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to the current situation. "Since you refuse to sing, I am forced to punish you." it said angrily and not a second later my beautiful wings began to rot, golden feathers began to slowly fall from my wings in clumps. The pain was extricating, but I did nothing for fear that it would worsen the state of my beloved wings. Rotting, burying holes began to take form in my wings, growing bigger and bigger by the second. Not being able to withstand the pain any longer I fell to my hands and knees and let out a pained scream. "Now you choose to sing, Kaoru? Kaoru…" The horrific picture began to slowly dissolve, "Kaoru… Kaoru…" I felt numb, relief that there was no more pain, but sad that I was once again empty. "Kaoru…"

"Kaoru… Kaoru… It's time to get up. Will you wake up already?!" This time when I open my eyes I don't see a great big yellow sky, but instead I see another pair of big golden eyes staring straight into my own.

"What is it Hikaru?" I sighed loudly to show my twin brother how irritated I am that he woke me up.

"It's almost time to leave for the show. Also, Tamaki wants us to get there early so we can discuss tonight's concert. Plus, you looked like you were having a bad dream." he said the last bit with a worried tone, "Are you feeling all right? You looked kind of…uh, sad."

"Yeah, it's whatever. Im just nerves, you know how it is." I smiled as I easily lied to my twin brother.

"All right… Sure. Anyways lets go see what that dumb blond wants. The driver is waiting outside." he says as he turns his back to me and walks out of our bedroom. I release a sigh of relief as I sit up in our comfy bed. I really didn't want to go to tonight's show. To be honest I didn't really want to go to any of the shows. I had my taste of fame, and now I am ready to go back to my normal life. The life were I would go to school, hangout with friends, pull pranks with my brother, and relax. Being in a band with all of your friends had been lots of fun. That is, until we had become famous. Now all there was was pressure. The pressure to sing right, the pressure to act right, the pressure to look right. This pressure was causing me to constantly be on my toes, and walk on thin ice. Yes, this new "fabulously famous" life was causing me lots of stress, and the fact that Hikaru, my best friend and twin brother, has been acting distant isn't helping. I guess you could say that I, Kaoru Hitachiin, was unhappy with his current life. Gawd, I feel pathetic that I seem to be going through my midlife crises at age seventeen!

All this stress is causing my "Kaoru is supper happy with his life" act to become a bit difficult. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, to continue to be in our band and to remain sane. But for the sake of my brother, and the sake of my friends, I keep going. I will continue to put myself out there and sing, for them. After all they have done for me, I owe it to them. Without my new friends, Hikaru and I would still be trapped in our own little world, not having any contact with the real world and the people in it. How could I possibly think of quitting now after all we've been through together?

It had all started as a dream that Tamaki had had as a young child. Ever since a very young age, Tamaki, loved to play the piano. He would spend countless hours playing for his sick mother, instead of playing outdoors with other children his age. He felt that his true purpose in life was to make people happy. Making others happy always made him happy, so he sat in his mother's room day after day, making her happy with his songs. After his mother passed away, Tamaki continued to play and his songs continued to make people happy. So, to fulfill his life's purpose, Tamaki choose to start a band were he could make music and smiles at the same time.

I remember it like it was last week, about two years ago my brother and I were confronted by this blond haired boy named Tamaki, during our lunch period. We were sitting alone, as usual when he came up to us and started talking. He basically begged us to join a band that he was going to form the next year. At first we thought that it was a very stupid idea, but Tamaki just kept bugging us until we finally agreed to join. We where bored and need a new game to play anyways.

We started off just played together for fun, and occasionally host small concerts for our school, friends, and family. Each of us being part of very rich and elite families, it did not take long for our music to become well known to the rest of the world. We've been the biggest 'thing' for a while now and I'm already tired of it. It's not as exciting as Hikaru and I thought thought it was going to be, well at least to me. If I had known that this becoming famous thing was going to put a strain on my close bond with Hikaru, I would have dropped out as fast as I could. It's funny how being so famous, and constantly being crowded by fans only makes you feel more lonely.

As I slid into the seat of our limo and next to Hikaru I began remember the strange dream I had just a few minutes ago. It was a very strange dream indeed. And this had definitely not been he first time I have had it. I've been having that same dream for a whole straight week now and it was driving me insane! It always started the same, with that sweet, light voice and the great yellow sky. What could it mean? Who was that voice coming from?

As our limo pulled up to the auditorium theater I can't help but shudder slightly. I glance over at Hikaru, praying that he hadn't noticed and from the looks of it, he hadn't. I released a sigh of relief, there was no need to pull Hikaru into my problems and give him unnecessary stress. From what I could tell, our new found fame was doing him some good. He is successfully slipping from our own private world and into the real one, he was opening up and beginning to trust other people. I love my brother, and I was proud of him for finding the confidence to leave our protected world and to venture out. That is what we wanted, wasn't it? So as long as it was making Hikaru happy, I would go along with it, until I can bear no more. Not only that, but people were now counting me. How could I quite a band that I had established with my friends, especially when I am the lead singer. Quitting would mean letting all of them down, and I don't think I'm ready for that kind disappointment yet. I love my friends and it would kill me to disappoint them so.

When our family limo finally pulled up to the concert hall Hikaru glanced over at me as he held the door open, "You've been awfully quite, Kaoru. Is there something bothering you?"

"No, I told you already, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, thank gawd today is Friday! I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow!" I said with a soft chuckle to emphasize that everything was all right and that I was just tired.

"I see, well that's good… Oh! Hey! We got a new video game earlier today! we should play it this weekend! I heard that it's really good! What do you say, Kaoru? Saturday- video- game- marathon?"

I smiled at my brother's attempts to make me feel happy, he really is a great brother. Finally being truthful I look over at him, "I would love to, Hikaru." With that he blushed slightly and quickly looked away. What was that?! Could it be that my own twin brother is afraid of me or is nervous to hang out with me? Have we really grown that distant in these past few months?Thinking about this new troubling issue I follow quietly behind Hikaru as we walk into the auditorium.

BAM! My head shot up, what the hell was that?! The fist thing I notice as we step into the great big bright dressing room is that our blond king is sitting in his emo corner growing mushrooms.

"Hey guys, whats going on?" Hikaru asked looking over at Kyouya, who was sitting at a table in front of his laptop with a smirk on his face. Kyouya was the only one in our group who had gotten out of being a performer, claiming that he was terrible at anything musical and that it was a wast of his time, thus becoming our very useful manager.

Without glancing away from his laptop he calmly stated, "Tonight we will be sharing the stage with two other groups and Tamaki didn't take the news well."

"But Tono, sharing is caring!" Honey said sweetly from Mori's solders. "Right Mori?" Mori nodded his head.

"But we won't have time for my big piano solo! Whaaaaaa! It's not fair!" Tamaki cried as he stomped his foot like a six year old. Was that really all he was worked up about? God, This blond. To add onto his princely character, Tamaki, our leader and keyboard slash piano player, had his own songs that he would perform on stage by himself while the rest of us take a short break. Which was very helpful, because out there under the lights with all those screaming teens, you can get tired really fast!

Ignoring our Tamaki I look over at Kyouya and ask, "So who are these people? Are they any good?"

This time looking up from his computer Kyouya said, "Well, the first group you guys already know; it's just Nekozawa had his gang of black magic freaks." We did know them well, they went to our high school and have played a lot of shows with us in the past. Tamaki acts like he is afraid of Nekozawa, with his gothic looks and weird behavior, but Hikaru and I think that he has a secret crush on him and doesn't know how to handle it. God, if it wasn't for the dark cloak and the fetish for cats and scary things they would be like the same person! Im sure that if Tamaki had photophobia he would be just like Nekozawa, maybe a little more emotional. Also their music is basically the complete opposite of ours. While we play up beat pop music, they play dark alternative. They call themselves Belzeneff, which I believe is his cat's name too.

"Humm… That's nice. Let me guess, there's going to be an awesomely huge after party at their house afterwards?" asked Hikaru excitedly. Nekozawa was also known for throwing crazy rock star parties at every chance he got. After every show Belzeneff would throw a huge party and invite everyone from the show, plus other musicians and models. And being the crazy party animal that Hikaru has recently become, he loves going to all of their parties.

Kyouya rolled his eyes, "Yes, Hikaru, there will be a party. We are expected to at least make an entrance. But," He looked pointedly at Hikaru, "I would hate to clean up any unnecessary messes, is that understood?"

Hikaru scratched the back of his head remembering last time, when he had gotten so drunk that he had thrown up on Kyouya's expensive leather shoes, "Yeah… Im still sorry about that by the way…"

Kyouya glared at him, "Show me you are sorry, and don't do it again." He then looked back at the rest of us with his emotionless face again, "The other group I believe call themselves the 'Zuku girls' They are an all girl group and from what I've gathered their lead singer used to be a model for the Hitachiin's Fashion industry, so you may recognize her." Great, another stupid kid who thinks they have what it's got to be out here. Whatever, tonight will be interesting; another model or actor who thinks they know what its all about. They just want power, fame, and money. Thats what they all want. To live the "dream".

Hikaru and I both shrugged our solders in sync and said, "Whatever". Hikaru turned his head and smiled at me over his solder. I simply rolled my eyes, he's been acting weird lately, like whenever we do something twinsy he acts like it's such a rare moment. As if we never act like twins anymore, when in fact we do all day, every day. I just wish we could hang out together again like we used. I just want to be close to him again.

Kyouya looked back at his laptop and continued to type whatever it is that he is always typing, "Well, I hate to break your moment over there Baka, but we really should start getting ready. Everyone your costumes are in the back, and don't forget hair and makeup." With that we all broke up into our own directions, getting what needed to get done, done.

~Aki Autter


	2. Loneliness in a Crowd

Chapter 2

Loneliness in a Crowd

About an hour later we all met back up in the stage cloths that my mom had designed especially for us. Tamaki was wearing a light purple v neck with a formal white vest that not only put an emphasis on his princely style, but also brought out his golden hair and violet eyes. For pants he chose to wear regular lose fitting pressed jeans with a chain, and on the chain he had his regular lucky king crown charms. So Tamaki. Mori, who probably could care less for whatever he wears, was wearing a deep red t shirt with a black and white plaid scarf with lose fitted worn out jeans with a couple rips here and there and a thick heavy chain. Honey was wearing his cutesy light pink shirt with some white lacy ruffles at the bottom. For his pants he wore a pair of cute capris that had a design of a bunny on one leg. And like always, he had his stuffed rabbit, Usa-chan firmly griped in his hands.

Of course Hikaru and I had corresponding out fits, like always, especially since our own mother was the fashion designer behind all of our costumes and cloths. Hikaru was wearing black skinny jeans with a striking orange tee shirt and a white jacket over it with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I was also wearing black skinny jeans, but with a sky blue t shirt and my favorite black and white striped fingerless gloves that covered most of my arms. We were also both wearing black boots and corresponding key and lock necklaces. And of coarse, I'm the locket. I rolled my eyes. Wasn't the necklaces a _little_ suggestive, mom?

Since we are "The Host" Tamaki wanted us to not only play great music, but also take on the mysterious roles of made up hosts. For example, Tamaki is the prince charming type, Honey is the boy Lolita type, Mori is the wild type, and Kyouya is the shadow king. For Hikaru and I, well… we have two "selling points", as Tamaki likes to call them; the little devil/ mischievous type (because the pranks we pull) and the forbidden brotherly love act (because we are twins and Tamaki is a sucker for tragic, forbidden romances). The title "little devils" fit us really well, but the brotherly love act was simply an act. Although it was just an act it sure made the girls go crazy!

After looking around at everyone Kyouya smirked, "Well, looks like we are actually ready. And on time too. Alright, we will be heading on stage in about an hour, go take a break." I decided to take this golden opportunity to sneak off, away from everyone else, especially Hikaru and have some alone time. It takes too much mental energy to lie to him. While wondering around the set I found a dark abandoned dressing room in the back of a small theater. 'This will do', I thought to myself as I push my back against the door, closing it quietly. I let out a sigh of relief as I slowly slide down to the ground. Although I hate being by myself and feeling lonely, it's better feeling lonely when you are _actually_ alone then when you are surrounded by others. Some how, it just makes you feel even lonelier. I slowly pulled my knees up to my chest and hide my face in my knees before I let the tears come out. 'Why am I crying? What is there to be so sad about? I have everything! Fame, money, friends… a great twin brother who I can count on. Then why do I fell this way? Why do I feel so empty? Why do I have to feel so alone?' It was a lie, and I knew it. You may be able to lie to your friends, your family, heck, even the world! But sadly, you can't lie to your self. I knew perfectly well, why I was crying. Because even though I had all these great things, I still felt alone and lost without Hikaru by my side.

"Kaoru… Kaoru? Were are you?" I'm surprised to hear Hikaru's voice coming down the hall towards the door I'm hiding behind. Suddenly, I could hear a pair of heavy boots stop right in front of my door and my breath got stuck in my throat, 'I cannot let him see me like this, maybe he will go look somewhere else if I just stay-'

"Kaoru, I know you are hiding behind this door. Make this easier on your self and let me in." I held my breath as I continued to sit completely still. I waited for what seemed like forever, which I knew it wasn't, since I definitely can't hold my breath that long. Nothing happened, maybe he did go away. Believing this, I allowed myself to let out a sigh of relief when, "Alright Kaoru, you left me with no choice because I'm going to come in rather you like it or not."

'Oh, crap! He can't come in here and see me like this! Come on Kaoru, think of something! Umm, umm…' I looked around the empty room, great no where to hide.

"This is your last warning," Hikaru placed his hand in the door knob and it began to turn…

"Wait!" I screamed in panic. My heart is pounding and my breath is coming in ragged swallows, as if I just ran I mile. Realizing that he was still waiting I took a deep breath to hide the panic in my voice, "You can't come in right now."

"Kaoru?" he said softly, his voice, similar to mine, was muffled a little by the door. His concern quickly turned into anger, "Why the hell not?! You have been acting strange for a couple of weeks now and I want you to let me in and tell me why! We are god damn twins and I have the right to know whats going on with my brother!"

Shakily I pull my legs closer to my chest, "Hikaru… Not now, okay?"

"Why!" he yelled through the door, stomping his foot. Then with a voice laced with sarcasm he asked "Are you too _busy_ right now? What? Too busy fucking around by your self in that room to talk to your own TWIN!?"

_Ding_, I just got an idea! Thank you Hikaru, but dear God, this better work or else this is going to be very _very_ embarrassing. Still not believing in what I'm about to say I took a deep breath, "Um… Well, you see…" I took another deep breath for good measures, "I have a _problem_ that I, uh, need to take care of _by myself_, _alone_, and um… I'd like to take care of this _problem_ before we go on stage… so if you don't mind…" Saying something so embarrassing, even if it was a lie, still made me blush. Gawd, lying to my older brother about having a boner, what has my life come too? I hope he would get the hint and just leave already.

There is silence behind the door for a second before Hikaru speaks again, "Ha ha, oh, I get it. Is that why you've been acting so distant lately? You where just looking for a good time to let out all that pent up energy, huh? Ha ha, sorry for delaying you, we can talk when you finish." There was awkward silence. 'Thank God he believed me!' And just when I thought everything was okay I heard Hikaru shuffle a little out side the door as he pressed his body against the door. "Kaoru, I appreciate the effort, but I can tell when you'er lying to me," and with that he shoved the door open and pushed himself in.

~Aki Autter


	3. Dressing Room

Chapter 3

Dressing room

Being that I had been leaning against the door when Hikaru decide to shove it open, I found my self sprawled out on the hard cold concrete floor. I groaned in discomfort, being shoved onto the floor was not much fun. "Wow! Sorry Kaoru, I had no idea that you were right behind the door!" he said as he walked closer to me and knelt down to my level. I sat up and bowed me head letting my bangs cover my face in a sad attempt to hide the fact that I had been crying. Thank God it was dark enough in the room that Hikaru couldn't see my face clearly.

"Hey," he said softly as he placed a warm hand on my shoulder. Without really meaning to, I flinched away from his touch. "Kaoru," he whispered in a concerned voice, "whats wrong? What is it? Whats so bad that you can't tell your own brother?" I heard him shuffle a little as he sat down on the floor beside me. Great, now he's not leaving. Hesitantly he wrapped his warm arms around me, but I refused to look up at him.

Realizing that I wan't planing on telling him anything, he bowed his head close to mine and whispered, "Come on, Kaoru, tell me." I just sat there and tried to ignore him, but it was getting hard. Seeing that I was starting to struggle with ignoring him, Hikaru continued to coax me, " I promise I won't tell anyone," he smirked against my neck. With his arms still wrapped around my waist, he pulled me into his lap, "we've known each other our whole life." Then with a sudden serious cold voice he asked, "What's with this sudden distance?"

Distance? Distance! That stupid Hikaru! Didn't he realize that he was also a part of this? That all relationships were a two way street? This was just like Hikaru, to blame every one else. He's the one that had been acting so different lately! He's the one that's like a whole new person! This person may look like my Hikaru, walk like my Hikaru, and sound like my Hikaru, but this person was not him. The problem is that he's changing and I can't handle it anymore. I'm not even sure I can say that I recognize this person anymore. He's just changing so fast, maybe faster than I can keep up. But I couldn't tell him that, no, never in a million years would I admit this to my brother. It was simply just too selfish. Although I know it is selfish, I still wish that we could be like how we used to be; alone together, in our own world. I'm proud of Hikaru for growing up and opening up to other people, but were does that leave me?

Lost in my thoughts I hadn't realized that I was trembling in my twin's arms. Trying to comfort me, he pulled me closer so that I was leaning into his chest and he whispered, "Hey, Kaoru. It's okay. Whatever it is I'm sure it'll work out and everything will be okay." If only you knew Hikaru, if only you knew. I felt him shuffled a bit under me as he pulled one of his legs out from under me and up closer to his chest. With me resting my back against his chest he slid his hand from were it had been tightly hugging my waist to the bottom of my t shirt. He hummed softly as he played with the edge of my shirt between his thumb and his forefinger. We sat like that for a while as I felt myself slowly relaxing in his arms. Hikaru always knew what to do to make me feel better. It only made our falling out even more bittersweet.

I was so relaxed that I thought I was going to fall asleep, snuggled with my brother. Drowned in relaxation I barely noticed that he had stopped humming and instead was breathing hard against my neck. His breath was warm and uneven on my neck. I felt him brushed his hot lips against the back of my neck. The sensation of feeling something so warm on the back of my neck caused me to shiver slightly. His graceful fingers griped the pice of my t shirt that he had been playing with and tugged on it slightly.

Unsure what was going on I tried to turn my head to look at him, "Hikaru?" But as soon as I turned my head to look at him, he stopped me by hungrily brushing his lips against my jaw, causing me gasp sharply. "Hikaru? What are you do-" then I felt it. As he slowly slid his warm hand inside my shirt and up my stomach I felt it. My brother was hard? Still unsure as to what to do, I tried again, "Uh um… Hikaru?"

"Kaoru," he moaned softly into my ear as he rubbed his problem area against my back. Then he softly pulled my chin over my solder so that our eyes met. His bright golden eyes held a mix of confusion and lust. He moved his face closer to mine, his warm breath hitting my lips. His lips were mere centimeters away and I was completely frozen. As I sat there completely frozen in place, I silently freaked out inside my head, _what should I do? What's going on? Was he going to kiss me? Was my own twin going to kiss me?_ He softly pressed his warm forehead to my own and I instantly tilted my head towards his. _What was I doing? Do I want him to kiss me? Wasn't this wrong? Did I even care?_ He slowly slid his eyes close and began to close the space between his lips and mine. I felt the excitement shoot through my body. _Oh, god! Hikaru is going to kiss-_

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Where are you?! The show is going to start soon!" Honey's sweet childish voice echoed down the hall. His rapid foot steps getting louder and louder.

Hikaru suddenly jumped up and muttered under his breath, "fucking cock blocker," as he brushed off his clothes. He then reached out a hand to me, who was still sitting completely frozen and confused. "Come on, Kaoru," he smirk down at me, "lets go knock them dead!" He then grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the door and into the dark hallway. As we reached the end of the hall, he pulled me close and whispered into my ear, "Don't think I've forgotten about our little talk, we'll just have to do that at the after party later."

"There you guys are! We've been looking all over for you!" Honey shouted. "We need to get going!" We all took off towards to giant auditorium were the rest of the Hosts waited.

Once back stage I could hear the audience in the crowd, I looked over at Kyouya, "Hey, Kyouya, how many are out there tonight?"

He looked over at me with a smirk, "Enough." Then with a slightly annoyed expression he asked, "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, where were you and Hikaru?"

Hikaru came up behind me with a huge smirk on his face and put his arm around my shoulder, "Now, why would you want to know that, Kyouya?" Kyouya glanced at him with a really annoyed expression that time.

Trying to prevent conflict Honey piped in, "I found them alone in a dark empty dressing room over in the west wing." Every one looked at Hikaru and I with shocked expressions. Great, now they've all got the wrong idea. But was it really the wrong idea? I mean, we did nearly kiss, didn't we? I looked over at my brother and I could have sworn that I saw Hikaru blush. I looked over at Kyouya, who was giving him his all famous shadow king glare. I shivered. Kyouya was scary when he was mad, so as a safety rule, Hikaru and I never play pranks on him.

With that everyone went back to setting up. I looked up as I felt the spot lights turn on over head. They were looking down at me, judging me. Watching me while I stand up out there and lie to the world. While I pretend to be a happy, normal, lively teenage boy who lives for his music. Ha! What a joke.

~Aki Autter


	4. Under the Spot Light (part 1)

Chapter 4

Under the Spot Light

Part 1

Hikaru's point of view

My hand were warm and my arms were shaking. My heart was beating faster than ever before. I can feel the sweet adrenaline shooting through my veins as my glassy eyes watched in anticipation for the show to start. The lights dimmed and all around me the world froze. In this moment, everything was perfect. In this small moment, before the curtain opens and the lights come on, nothing else matters. Every problem, every concern disappears. These are the moments I live for.

With my guitar in my hand, I walk up to my spot next to Kaoru, who stands in the center of the stage. I love standing up here, next to him. I love being on stage, in front of everyone. I love the audience and how their excitement fills the whole auditorium. I love that feeling of having all of their attention. Most of all, I love how it all makes me feel. The nervousness before the show, the excitement during, and the calming aftermath. All of it is just so intoxicating.

I look out past the stage to see a huge auditorium full of screaming teenagers. Quite a few of them are holding up sings and posters with our faces and names on them. I watch Kaoru as he walks up to the mic, and takes hold of it. He is really an amazing singer and I love his beautiful voice. Although our DNA is absolutely the same, our voices are still sightly different. Kaoru has a smooth, sweet, calming voice that makes you want to listen to him. Were as my voice is a bit louder, angrier, and huskier. Together our voices make a perfect harmony, and I would know because we tend to say the samethings at the same time pretty often.

Because our voices sound so well together I also do duets and backup singing for Kaoru. I love singing with him! It's really fun getting to perform on stage with my twin, because it makes me feel closer to him and I love that feeling!

I try to regain my focus as the music starts. Mori starts up with his base until I hear my cue and began to strum along on my electric guitar. Getting into the music, Kaoru shifts from one foot to the next, preparing himself to sing. Then, right on cue, he opens his mouth and sings the first verse.

_"Every clock is ticking faster_  
_Taking trips around the sun_  
_Another year, another chapter_  
_5 and 4 and 3 and 2 and 1"_

As expected he sang the first verse perfectly and even added little dance like movements to excite to the crowd even more. I prepared myself to sing the next verse with him. Although I do sing, it's usually just small parts, since I still get nervous singing in front of other people.

_K: "Drop your calls, lose your keys"_  
_H: "Before the drinks are gone"_  
_K: "Get yourself out your seat"_  
_H: "Oh oh"_  
_K: "Quit bitch-in move your feet"_  
_H: "Until the break of dawn"_  
_K: "Cause nobody gives a damn about the day that you were born"_

After the second verse Tamaki begins to play on his electric keyboard, bring in cool sound effects to our song, giving it a modern pop feel. He also uses it to manipulate Kaoru's voice a little, also giving it a cool electric sound.

_"Except for everyone who ruins your birthday_  
_You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_This songs for anyone who is having the worst day_  
_You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not  
__Oh o oh"_

At this point all of us together play our instruments in sync with each other, finally meeting the climax of the song. This is the point were we all give it our best and play/sing our hearts out for the crowd. Along with Kaoru, we all sing the course together, giving the song an exciting, party feel. Honey on the drums, Mori on the base, Tamaki on the keyboard, me on the lead guitar and Kaoru singing. All together we make a wonderful family!

_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K: "Like it's not your birthday"_  
_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh_  
_Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K: "Like it's not your birthday"_  
_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh"_

When we all work together like this, I think we make pretty great music. It's too bad that Kyouya refuses to play anything with us, I'm sure he'd make a great rhythm guitarist or tech guy, so Tamaki can focus on the keyboard and piano. Well, at least he makes a great manager! He always sets up all of our shows and interviews and prepares everything for our music videos and albums. He truly is a mastermind at planning and organization.

_"Take a sip of the high life_  
_Chase it down until you fall_  
_365 nights_  
_Why just one if we can have them all"_

We usually write all of our songs together, but it's most of them are written by Tamaki and Honey, which is why most of our songs are so up beat and happy. Kaoru writes all the time, but he never lets anyone see them and I never hear him sing them either. It must just be that my sweet little brother is shy, but that never stops me from trying to read what he writes!

_K: "Drop your calls, lose your keys"_  
_H: "Before the drinks are gone"_  
_K: "Get yourself out your seat"_  
_H: "Oh oh"_  
_K: "Clap your hands, move your feet"_  
_H: "Until the break of dawn"_  
_K: "Cause nobody gives a damn about the day that you were born_  
_This songs for everyone who ruins your birthday_  
_You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_This songs for anyone who is having the worst day_  
_You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_H: "Oh o oh"_

And once again we all come together and sing the course.

_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K:"Like it's not your birthday"_  
_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh_  
_Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K: "Like it's not your birthday"_  
_A: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh"_

I refocus on the song as my rap solo comes up. I nervously step up next to my brother, who step over to share his mic with me. Knowing just how nervous I am, he gives me a sweet reassuring smile to boost my confidence. I love my brother, he is always there for me. I smile back at him as I take hold of the microphone in my hands.

_"Ok lets lose control_  
_I wanna see everybody on the floor_  
_Well go and send your invitations_  
_Do it now 'cause time is wasting_  
_Life is tough so fill them cups_  
_One life to live, so live it up_  
_Drinks go up, drink em' down_  
_Turn it up, wake up the town_  
_Ok, Check it out, here's the plan_  
_We gonna dance till we can not stand_  
_Move your feet to every beat_  
_O Crap, bring it back, put it on repeat_  
_We are going to party till the break of dawn_  
_I don't even know how i'm getting home_  
_It's alright it's ok_  
_It's not even my birthday"_

After my solo is over I release a silent sigh of relief. I did it! The whole thing! Without even screwing up! I can't believe it! I look over at Kaoru to see his expression. When our eyes met he smiled proudly at me and I felt a small flutter of pure happiness in side my chest and I could feel a small blush spread across my checks. Kaoru is the only person who can make me feel this way. I'm not sure what this feeling is, but I know that making Kaoru happy always makes me happy too. This time the course is only sung by Kaoru and I, to calm down the crowd a bit before the ending of the song, that a way it doesn't end too abruptly or something.

_H:" Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K:"Like it's not your birthday"_  
_H: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh_  
_Party like it's not, party like it's not"_  
_K: "Like it's not your birthday"_  
_H: "Party like it's not, party like it's not_  
_Oh o oh"_

Then with one last burst of energy we all sing the ending together and we all play our instruments together to end the song on a good note.

_"This song is for everyone who it ain't your birthday  
__You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not  
__This song's for anyone who is having the worst day  
__You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not  
__oh o oh  
__(Like it's not your birthday)  
__Party like it's not, party like it's not  
__(Like it's not your birthday)  
__Party like it's not, party like it's not  
__oh o oh  
__(Like it's not your birthday)  
__Party like it's not, party like it's not  
__(Like it's not your birthday)  
__Party like it's not, party like it's not  
__oh o oh"_

As we all bring the song to it's end the crowd goes completely wild! Once again, a perfect song. I look over at Kaoru, who gives me a questioning look. That's right, he and I have some unfinished business to attend to after the concert. I give him one of our all famous HikaKao smirks.

He looks down at the ground in a failed attempt to hide the growing blush on his cheeks. Then a second later I noticed that he was still looking at the ground. His eyes were unfocused and he was just staring at some empty space in front of the stage. He looked so sad that I completely forgot about the cheering crowd and walked up to him and placed my hand on his solder. He looked over his solder at me and I gave him a great big smile to remind him that everything was going to be okay. In return he gave me a sweet small smile to tell me that he was fine, just tired. I rolled my eyes at him to say yeah, right. He giggled at me, rolling my eyes. It's so great that he and I can communicate so well with one another, just through looks and glances. I suppose thats the outcome of us constantly excluding ourselves from others when we were younger. Well, whatever it was that was bothering my brother, we only had one more song to do and I would find out what it was soon enough.

~Aki Autter

* * *

Author's Note

So, I just thought I should mention, I don't own this song at all. Totally borrowed it from Allstars Weekend and I recommend you listen to their song untitled "Not Your Birthday". Also, sorry I haven't updated in a few days, school suddenly got really busy. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. I felt that the story needed a happy upbeat chapter :3

Not Your Birthday  
by Allstars Weekend


	5. Under the Spot Light (part 2)

Chapter 5

Under the Spot Light

Part 2

Hikaru's point of view

I took a deep breath as I began the next song. This one was one of my personal favorites and I loved playing it. Shortly after I began to play I can hear Honey on the drums, playing isync with me. I look at him over my solder and smile at him as I continue to play. In return he flashes me a great big Honey smile. With that Tamaki recognizes his cue and also begins to play, leading up to our "musical explosion of happiness" as Honey and Tamaki like to call it. Otherwise known as the very energetic and exciting moment in our songs were we all play together as one. All of our songs have them, thanks to Tamaki and Honey that is. We all play like that for a bit, Honey, Mori, Tamaki, and I, in unity before quitting down for Kaoru's singing.

_"Baby, get up_

_Open your eyes now, the world's waking up_

_You realize we'll walk to the beat so suddenly_

_While we make believe that this will last forever_

_As soon as he finishes the first verse he steppes away from the mic to give me room for my part so I can have room to continue playing my guitar while I sing. I lean into the mic, and gave it my best._

_We won't sleep 'til 3 in the morning_

_This song speaks, and it's singing the real thing_

_It feels like we're living a dream_

_But tonight we're gonna make this one right"_

Then with another one of our "explosions" Kaoru returns to his spot next to me for our duet. I glance at him and our eyes locked as we both begin to sing the next part together. Gazing into his eyes, I can't help but feel so happy inside and I smile at him. He smiles back at me as if he feels the same way.

_"We'll set the stage and let the records play on a Saturday_

_And we can dance forever_

_We'll burn the light that makes the city sway_

_When we set the stage, we can dance forever_

_Forever, forever, forever_

_Forever, forever, forever, forever_

_And we can dance forever_

_Then we break apart again, and I step back a little allowing him some room while he sang his solo._

_We're crazy enough to feel alive now_

_You've got the stuff when we arrive_

_We'll walk to the beat so suddenly_

_And then you tell me that we could stay together"_

I step up once again to claim the mic for my second solo. When I do start to sing, Kaoru playfully pushes me and I stumble back a little, which just adds to the playful mood of the song.

_"We won't sleep 'til 3 in the morning_

_This song speaks, and it's singing the real thing_

_It feels like we're living a dream_

_But tonight we're gonna make this one right"_

Then, just like we had practiced, we both lean into the mic at the exact same time, like mirror images, and sang the course together again. The crowd went wild! Especially the girls in the front.

_"We'll set the stage and let the records play on a Saturday_

_And we can dance forever_

_We'll burn the light that makes the city sway_

_When we set the stage, we can dance forever_

_Forever, forever, forever_

_And we can dance forever_

_Forever, forever, forever"_

Another reason why I simply love this song is that it was written for us, Kaoru and I. This song was also written by Tamaki and Honey, but they said that they had written it for Kaoru and I to sing together. It was written with our personalities in mind. That's why the song was so playful. That's also why Kaoru and I were told to act extra "brotherly" while we performed this song on stage. For example, they wanted us to purposely playfully push one another, laugh, and acting alike, so we do.

_"Turn around, just move it_

_With your feet on the ground, you'll prove it_

_When you hear the sound, we'll both lose it_

_Then we'll make the rounds to dance forever_

_Then I step back one last time for my very favorite part of the song, I get excited just thinking about it! Kaoru steppes up to the mic one more time, taking the mic carefully in his hands and bowing his head slightly to sing softly into it._

_And when the music stops and we can't wait_

_For another day, but we'll just dance forever_

_We'll hold on tight and think of Saturdays_

_If you say my name, then we can dance forever_

_Oh, gawd! Whenever he sings like that I swear it gives me chills! Then he jumps up and we sing the last part of the song with all we got while the others play their hearts out._

_We'll set the stage and let the records play on a Saturday_

_And we can dance forever_

_We'll burn the light that makes the city sway_

_When we set the stage, we can dance forever_

_Forever, forever, forever_

_And we can dance forever_

_Forever, forever, foreve_r"

As Tamaki plays the last electronically keys the crowd explodes into screaming. I put my arm over Kaoru's solder with a smile as we wave to crowd. This is why I do what I do, for the fans and for the one I love, Kaoru.

~Aki Autter

* * *

Author's Note

Yep, Hikaru just admitted to loving his Kaoru 3 Sorry for the short chapter, I'm sort of in a bad mood today, but whatever. Also, I don't know about always having them sing real songs, I think I'll just start skipping the "singing" parts and focus on the story. Love you!

Dance Forever by Allstars Weekend  
I do not own this song


	6. A Plan Set in Motion

Chapter 6

A Plan Set in Motion

Kyoya's Point of view

I sit quietly back stage pretending that I am ignoring my friends on stage while working on my laptop instead, but really I'm secretly watching. You could say that I am always watching, heh. At the moment I'm secretly watching one in particular, my beautiful Kaoru. His singing is enough to put a smile on anyone's face, including the shadow king's. Oh, how I want to make you mine and mine alone, Kaoru. I would give up a lot just to have him. If only it wasn't for that god damn Hikaru! He is always getting in the way and waisting Kaoru's time, time that he could be with me instead! Funny how I can have such lust for one twin, while I absolutely loath the other. There is no way I can get close to Kaoru with Hikaru practically clawing all over him. It's pretty obvious that Hikaru has feeling for his twin, but it looks like Kaoru is pretty oblivious to the whole thing. From what I can see, Hikaru is head over heels in love with Kaoru, but he is too afraid to confess his feelings. Hopefully it stays that way, it'll make my plan go over smoothly. I take in a deep breath as they near the end of their song,

"All in good time" I whisper quietly to myself. My plan was about to be set in motion. I look down at my glowing computer screen in my lap and the file that I've just opened,

_How To Get Kaoru Part I_

_Step one: Find power hungry, simple minded, beautiful girl_

_Step two: Offer her power, fame, and money_

_Step three: Put her in a band with other beautiful, simple minded girls_

_Step four: Become manager secretly, so you can have power over them_

_Step five: Turn her into a girl that Hikaru won't be able to resist _

_Step six: Make her and her group popular, to establish trust and promise more_

_Step seven: Have them show up "coincidentally" everywhere the Host are_

_Step eight: Get her to slowly seduce Hikaru, tell her it's for her benefit_

_Step nine: Get Hikaru to spend more time with her to distract him_

_Step ten: Have Hikaru fall in love with the girl and out of love with Kaoru _

Then with a love struck, distracted Hikaru and alone Kaoru I can then proceed to part II of my plan. Honestly I have not made a step by step plan for part II, but I can tell you that the end result will be that Kaoru will be mine. Either my boyfriend or, if he'd rather keep it a secret, a secret lover. Either way I'll be happy. So far I've completed steps one through four, I'm currently gathering information for step five. Tonight I will be presenting the girl on stage. Her name is Haruhi, a model who until recently was living pay check to pay check. Although she is very power hungry, she is not simple minded at all. Lucky for me she understands my goals and doesn't seem to care as long as she gets what she wants, so I have a devoted minion. Her little group of girls, her "band members" are very simple minded and are easy to manipulate, so they are easily controlled, which is very good. Anyways, tonight I hope to give Hikaru a little taste of my newest project and temp him a little.

My friends walk off stage towards me, in the little back stage wing were they can take a water break and watch their fellow performers. Perfect. I watch as Tamaki walks over to me with a water bottle in hand and sits across from me, "Hey Kyouya, how was it? As perfect as you dreamed?"

I smile at my best friend, "As long as you are happy." He smiles back at me. He can be so 2-D sometimes, but thats probably why he is my best friend. I glance over at Kaoru, who looks a little lost as he takes a swig of his water bottle. I watch as he pulls the bottle away from his lips and slowly licks his wet pink lips, lost in thought. I can't help but also lick my lips and imagine those lips press against my own. Sadly I'm not the only one watching the show, Hikaru is staring at Kaoru, hypnotized by his fluid motions. I can't wait to get rid of the competition. I'm so lost in thought that I almost didn't notice that the announcement of Haruhi's band. I look around, where is that girl? I find her quickly and we make eye contact, she winks a glittery eye at me and I smirk. I told her to not talk to me when I was around any of my friends otherwise it would look suspicious. Our business relationship was a secret one, that only my managing company knows about. I couldn't have Hikaru or any of the others thinking that I set the whole thing up, which I have, but they didn't need to know that.

My friends had just settled down when the announcer announced Haruhi's group. This was going to be one heck of a show, I made sure of that. She was only getting one song in tonight, so it had to be amazing. That included costumes, makeup, lights, and of course dancing. Believe me when I say this will be a show to remember.

She was dressed perfectly, just Hikaru's type! Sweet and girlie, but also unique and individual; bubblegum punk. Her dark brown hair was smoothed down neatly in he front, but spiked out in the back, giving her a formal slash punk look. Around her neck she wore a pink lace bow with a skull charm. She wore a white laced corset top with a light blue mini jacket that had little white laced bows and frills. It was a colorful modern version of a french aristocratic 1800s dress top. The bottom was a thigh high skirt with a bunch of yellow, light blue, pink and white shredded lace, giving her skirt a very tutu like effect and on the back of it was a big white bow. On her arms she had on black fingerless gloves. For her legs she had on a pair of thigh high black and white stripped tights, the tights were just short enough that you saw a bit of her thigh between the tights and her skirt. Just enough to tempt *smirk. The for shoes she wore knee high black platform boots with light blur laces and a big bow at the top of each one. As for make up, it was colorful, glittery, and punk. I loved it, she had done better than I thought. She basically looked like a girl version of Hikaru, but sluttier.

As planed the whole auditorium went black, and you could hear a soft flute playing sweetly, then some sweet chimes. Perfect for a sweet girlie impression right? A couple spot lights turned on showing some gold glitter as it fell into the from the stage. It gets better, as the music continues you hear an electric guitar come in, adding a bit of an edge. Then the drums started in as Haruhi walked up to the mic, picking it up and holding it to her glittery mouth as she got ready to sing. A single spot light hit her as he began to sing, keeping the rest of the stage in darkness. As she song out the first line she swept her arm in front of her as if to present her self.

Then in perfect allusion with the music she shook her finger "no" then flipped her hand to the side in a "whatever" sort of way. Then she turned around and the rest of the stage lit up brightly with all sorts of colors. She walked to the center of the brightly lit stage now covered with glitter and continued to sig the next part, tipping her body like a tea pot. She continued to sing as she pranced around the stage, doing her little hand gestures along with the music.

I looked back at my friends, Tamaki was drooling with wide eyes, even Honey and Mori looked completely transfixed on the girl on stage. I looked over at Hikaru as he watched awe. As I smirk knowingly at him I turn my head to look at Kaoru, he's staring up at the bright, colorful spotlights above the stage, lost in his thoughts. As the song ends Haruhi flings out her arms and curtsies cutely before smirking at the crowd rebelliously. She turned on her heel and walked off back stage as the goes dark once more. Now that the cat has been tempted with the toy, it's time for the cat to chase the mouse.

~Aki Autter

* * *

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the wonderful readers who have read my story. I will make sure to do my best to write a great story! Also, sorry it took me forever to upload this pass chapter ^^


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